Manipulation of the fatty acid profile in <i>Artemia</i> offspring produced in intensive culture systems

The presence of highly unsaturated fatty acids is a principal factor which determines the food value of Artemia nauplii for marine shrimp and fish larvae. In an attempt to explain the high variation in essential fatty acid content in Artemia from different sources we have studied the effect of diet on the fatty acid profile of Artemia offspring (ovi- or ovoviviparous) produced in controlled culture systems. The parental populations tested originated from Lavalduc (France) and Great Salt Lake (Utah, USA); they were fed different diets consisting of dried Spirulina and/or defatted rice bran, eventually coated with cod liver oil. The analytical data indicate that the fatty acid profile of the Artemia offspring reflects the composition of the diet fed to the parental brine shrimp regardless of the strain used. Moreover, the level of ω3 highly unsaturated fatty acids (ω3-HUFA) in the cysts and nauplii can be significantly increased by feeding the parental stock with ω3-HUFA-fortified diets. From this study we can conclude that the natural production of Artemia cysts with a high ω3-HUFA content will be limited to those biotopes where natural or man-managed conditions enhance the dominant presence of a ω3-HUFA-rich diet